Get Guardian on GoogleThe last may not have been heard about the controversy trailing the real currency for the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), despite it is about 23 years that shipowners have waited endlessly for disbursement.
The former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), TemisanOmatseye, had revealed that the Cabotage Fund had been converted to naira, a statement that triggered reaction from NIMASA which claimed the fund was still domiciled in dollars.
Irked by the unending back and forth games, shipowners and industry stakeholders have called for a forensic audit of the account to be able to ascertain the real currency and how much has actually accumulated into the CVFF.
The CVFF was established to provide financial support to Nigerian indigenous shipowners for the acquisition of vessels and development of local shipping capacity.
Following the conflicting claims over the management and currency status of the fund, the development, the Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has called for an independent forensic audit of NIMASA.
SEREC, in its latest bulletin by its Head of Research, Eugene Nweke, explained that the controversy surrounding the fund had reinforced its earlier concerns about transparency, accountability and the possible erosion of contributions through currency conversion and administrative decisions.
The body maintained that the latest disclosures had validated its earlier demand for a thorough audit of NIMASA’s financial records covering the period from 2004 to date.
SEREC argued that shipowners, as contributors to the fund, “deserved documentary evidence showing how much had accrued, where the money was domiciled, the interest generated and the amount currently available for disbursement.”
It warned that converting dollar contributions into naira exposed the fund to significant foreign exchange losses, given the depreciation of the local currency over the years.
Similarly, Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) enjoined the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy to clarify the reported conversion of the fund from dollars to naira, insisting that it should remain denominated in dollars.
NISA President, Alhaji Sola Adewumi, said the ministry and NIMASA should tell operators the truth, as shipowners has continued to make payments to the relevant authorities in US dollars for shipping-related transactions and other obligations.
The former President of the National Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), Capt. TajudeenAlao, also sought a comprehensive audit of NIMASA accounts.
The call, to him, was to establish the actual status of the CVFF. Alao said an independent audit would help resolve the lingering controversy over the fund’s management and currency denomination.
According to Alao, only a comprehensive audit covering 2004 to date would provide clarity on its management over the years.
He also expressed concern over the prolonged delay in disbursing the CVFF, lamenting that the failure to make the fund accessible to indigenous shipowners for more than two decades had forced many operators out of business.
